Fire often and tragically strikes people's homes or lodgings while they sleep or remain preoccupied with other activities. Lacking forewarning of the impending danger, they do not take advantage of the fleeting opportunity to escape the premises and protect themselves. The too frequent loss of life can then occur.
Sadly, the people who perish in fires very frequently could have escaped had they received warning when the fire first started, or at some early point in its progression. Often, people die in their sleep from the fumes generated by the fire without ever awakening to the danger.
The advent of smoke alarms and smoke detectors has the purpose of giving people this very warning. Properly maintained, they have proven themselves invaluable in limiting and avoiding the loss of life in fires. With an early warning, the people in the affected premises have an opportunity to escape without personal injury or death. Moreover, the warning also allows them to summon the fire department to limit the loss of property in the fire.
The tremendous benefits provided by the smoke alarms has induced owners of apartment houses to install them in public areas for the tenants' protection. Governments have even begun to require them for such buildings. The City of Chicago, for example, has recently passed an ordinance to this effect.
The components within the alarm which allow it to operate properly represent valuable items. The alarms themselves are not inexpensive. The foreseeable result of these factors often finds the alarms missing from their locations where initially installed. Consequently, the owners must either expend further funds to purchase new alarms, or the protection initially provided simply disappears. Moreover, no owner, no matter how solicitous towards his tenants, can afford to repeatedly replace stolen alarms.
To exacerbate this problem, the alarms generally have delicate covers. Moreover, the covers readily come apart to allow access to the components inside. These factors result from the necessity of minimizing the expense of the devices for general commercial use. Furthermore, the covers must allow the ambient atmosphere to readily pass into the alarm's interior so that it may detect any smoke in the air. Furthermore, the alarm must permit facile entrance to its interior in order to replace batteries or other components. However, these factors also permit immediate access to the screws holding the alarm to the ceiling or other room surface. As a result, an individual generally has little difficulty in removing the alarm and taking it with him.